Automatic catch for brooches, pins, &amp;c.



No; 676,640. a I Patented lune l8, 190i- J. H. THEBERATH & 01L. UHRY. AUIOMATIG CATCH FOR BROOCHES, PINS, 8w.

(Application filed. Feb. 1, 0

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE JOHN HENRY THEBERATH, OF VAILSBURG, ANDCHARLES L. UHRY, OF NEWVARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS T BIPPART, GRISCOM &OSBORN,

OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC CATCH FOR BROOCHES, PINS, 81.0.

SPECIFICATION-forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,640, dated June 18,1901.

Application filed February 1 1901. Serial No. 45,574. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN HENRY THEBE- RATH, residing at Vailsburg, andCHARLES L. UHRY, residing at 144 Sherman avenue, New- 5 ark, county ofEssex, State of New Jersey, citizens of the United States, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Catches for Broochesand Pins of all Kinds, fully described and represented in the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of the present invention is to furnish a catch forautomatically engaging and locking the point of a pin-tongue when thetongue is pressed into such catch, such catch being held automaticallyin its engagement with the tongue until detached by the finger.

The improvement is adapted to brooches, 2o lace-pins, and all kinds ofpins which are secured upon the dress by a tongue and serves to lock thetongue, so as to positively prevent the loss of the brooch or pin.

In our construction the brooch is provided 2 5 near the point of thetongue with forked guides, upon one of which a hook is pivoted so as toturn over the point of the tongue, and the base of the hook is providedwith two projections, one of which forms a toe extended between theguides to be pressed by the point of the tongue, and the other forms anarm to be actuated by the finger for opening the hook. The tongue ispreferably bent outward from the brooch at the middle, so as to pressupon the dress when the brooch is applied thereto, and the mere pressureof the tongue into the guides serves to turn the hook over the outerside of the tongue, where the elastic pressure of the tongue is resistedand the tongue retained until the finger is applied to the arm and thehook turned outwardly. Such action of the finger permits the hook toescape elastically from the catch and enables the wearer to remove thebrooch without any manipulation whatever of the tongue.

The invention is illustrated in one form in the annexed drawings, inwhich-- Figure 1 is an edge view of a brooch inverted and provided withthe improvements with the pin shown in full lines locked by the catchand in dotted lines where it would be lifted by the elasticity conferredby its joint. Fig. 2 shows the back of the brooch. Fig. 3 is an edgeview showing the side of the pin and catch opposite to that representedin Fig. 1. Fig. 4. shows the end of the brooch nearest the catch withthe catch and tongue engaged. Fig. 5 is a similar view with the catchand tongue disengaged. Fig. 6 is a perspec- 6o tive view of the guidesmounted upon a foot for attachment to the back of the brooch, and Fig. 7is a perspective view of the catch-piece detached from the guides.

The figures are drawn upon a greatly-enlarged scale to show the detailsof construction, and a brooch or pin is represented by a I plain flatplate a. The tongue I) is shown pivotedto one end of the plate andprovided with the usual heel c, which causes its point to spring outelastically from the plate, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. A guide0' is shown at one side of the point anda guide (2 at the opposite side,the latter having a hook epi voted therein transverse to the tongue andadapted to turn over the tongue, as shownin Fig. 4. A toefis attached tothe base of the hook and projects into the space between the guides intowhich the tongue is directed by the sloping surface upon the guide c.Owing to the operation of the usual heel c the point of the tongue liesnormally above the path of the hook, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 1 and by the dotted circle connected with reference-letter b inFig. 5. When the'tongueis pressed into such space, its contact with thetoe turns the hook upon its pivot until its point contacts with a seator stop 2', provided at the side of the guide a. In thus op erating thetongue first contacts with the toe, as indicated by the hatched circleconnected with the letter b in Fig. 5, and is pressed downward betweenthe posts, as indicated by the dotted circle in Fig. a. The release ofthe pressure upon the'tongue throws it upward to the inner side of thehook, as indicated by the hatched circle inside the hook in Fig. 4.

The end 6 of the hook is a little nearer to the pivot than the arch ofthe hook, and the elastic pressure of the tongueupon the arch,

as shown in Fig. 4, has therefore no tendency to turn the hook; but thelatter is self-locked upon the tongue when it is once turned over thesame. The path of movement of the extreme end of the toefis indicated inFigs. 4: and 5 by a dotted line extending diagonally across the passagebetween the guides. An arm g is projected from the base of the hookopposite to the toe f and is provided with a notch h to admit thefinger-nail, which may be used to press the arm toward the brooch orplate a, and thus turn the hook open, as shown in Fig. 5. When the hookis thus turned, the tongue springs outwardly, as represented by dottedlines in Figs. 1 and 5, and is thus prevented from rengaging the hook byaccident. A shield j is projected from the hook over the point of thetongue, such shield preventing the point from accidentally pricking thewearer or catching in the dress and preventing the easy removal of thearticle from the dress when the catch is disengaged. The tongue I) isshown bent outwardly from the body a beyond the line of the fixtureswhich constitute the catch, so that the pin may be pressed against thedress without hindrance from the catch to make it turn the hookautomatically. The point of the tongue ,may be thus locked without anymanipulation whatever. It is common to bend the tongue of a brooch tomake more room beneath the same to embrace the hair, scarf, or otherobjects in cases where no such automatic action of the pin is involved;but the bending of the tongue in the present construction is to performa new and special function in connection with the automatic catch bybringing its middle portion outward beyond the catch, so as to receivethe pressure of the garment when the brooch is put in place and thuslock the tongue automatically and by mere pressure upon the front of thebrooch.

We are aware that a staple-shaped or pivoted hook has been applied tothe tongue of a brooch, but without means for turning it automatically,as in our construction. We are also aware that the ordinary catch-hookupon a brooch has been provided with 'a safety-hook which turns over theinner side of the tongue when the tongue is placed inside of thecatch-hook by the finger. In such construction the elastic pressure ofthe tongue holds it outwardly against the stationary catch-hook,and itdoes not, therefore, press at all against the safety-hook. Ourconstruction differs from this in dispensing with the ordinarycatch-hook and employing only the safety-hook and turning the same overthe outer side ofthe tongue, where it will be firmly held by the elasticpressure of the tongue itself.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimedherein is- 1. A brooch having the hinged tongue 12, the guides c, d,projected outwardly from the back of the brooch, with their passage-wayin the plane of movement of the tongue to freely admit the point of thelatter, and the hook e pivoted upon one of the guides and having thetoef extending from the base of the hook to project between the guides,and the arm 9 projected from the base of the hook to extend outside ofthe guide for actuation of the finger, whereby the hook is automaticallyengaged with the outer side of the tongue by direct pressure upon thetoe forcing it between the guides, and is elastically discharged fromthe guides by the mere pressure of the finger upon the arm g.

2. A brooch having the tongue I) with hinge for attaching it to thebrooch, the catch herein described having guides projected outwardlyfrom the brooch with passage -way in the plane of movement of thetongue, and the hook e pivoted on one'of the guides with we extendingfrom the base of the hook to project between the guides, and thetonguebeing bowed outwardly at the middle to contact with the dress, forpressing the tongue automatically into such catch to turn the hook overthe tongue, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in 'the'presence ofthesubscribing witnesses.

JOHN HENRY THEBERATH. CHARLES L. UHRY. Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. ROBERTS, ADRILL BIPPART, LAWRENCE H. SMITH.

